Revamped biology Ph.D. program aims to double admissions

Revamped biology Ph.D. program aims to double admissions

BY ALY BROWN | JULY 09, 2012 6:30 AM

UI Biology Department officials say renovations in the Ph.D. program will better train students for careers in science through collaboration and seminar opportunities.

Josh Weiner, head of the IBIO program and associate professor in the department, said the new program to be implemented in the fall of 2013 will attract students interested in big-picture puzzles in basic biology.

"We are rebooting the grad program," he said. "We compete for students with other institutions and other overlapping UI programs, like the biosciences and interdisciplinary programs. We want to attract the kind of students who are most interested in big issues in basic biology."

Last year, four new students enrolled in the biology Ph.D. program, but Weiner wants to double those admitted. The program has 33 Ph.D. students; Weiner said the program used to house 50 before severe state and Graduate College budget cuts reduced the number.

Weiner said there aren't many departmental graduate programs around anymore, noting many have merged to create interdisciplinary focuses.

A major concentration for IBIO is to encourage collaboration among faculty, students, and various labs in the department.

"There were different 'research areas' in the old biology Ph.D. program," he said. "In IBIO, however, everything is integrated, and while each lab is focused on a smaller set of topics, students will be expected to integrate into the program as a whole."

During the fall semester of their first year, students previously participated in research rotations between three labs for 10 to 11 weeks, but IBIO will allow seven weeks.

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Revamped biology Ph.D. program aims to double admissions

ENVIRONMENT: Carlsbad woman works to protect turtle nest eggs

After studying marine biology and spending family vacations in Costa Rica, a Carlsbad woman turned her fascination with sea turtles into an effort to help the endangered animals in the Central American country.

Courtney King, a recent marine biology graduate from U.C. Davis, spent one of her last quarters abroad working on turtle conservation with the nonprofit Costa Rican organization Pretoma.

Based in the idyllic beach community of Playa San Miguel, where howler monkeys and armadillos share the town with fishermen, King helped the organization patrol beaches against turtle poaching and collect eggs into a protected hatchery.

Olive ridley turtles are threatened by consumption of their eggs, which locals believe to be aphrodisiacs, she said.

The 70- to 100-pound turtles nest on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. There conservationists watched for their tracks, which resemble tire tracks.

Each time they found a nesting turtle they would tag her, measure her and place her eggs into a fenced, protected area of marked plots.

When the eggs hatched after 42 to 60 days, they returned the baby turtles safely to the sea.

King's family owns vacation property in Costa Rica, and she had hoped to return to the country to work on a conservation project, she said. Plus, the Carlsbad High School graduate said her mother had instilled a love of sea turtles from an early age.

"My mom absolutely loves sea turtles, so our whole house is decorated in sea turtles," King said. "So growing up with that made me really interested."

King plans to return to Costa Rica on Monday, where she'll continue the conservation project, and also start some research on another species: the endangered hawksbill sea turtle, a 100- to 150-pound turtle prized for its exquisitely patterned shell.

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ENVIRONMENT: Carlsbad woman works to protect turtle nest eggs

Presenting “Evolution: Making Sense of Life” (and a free app!) | The Loom

As Ive mentioned a couple times, Ive been working for a couple years with biologist Douglas Emlen on a new textbook about evolution, intended for biology majors. Its scheduled to be published next month, and weve gathered some gratifying endorsements. Here are a selection:

Excitingis a word not often used to describe a new textbook. But, by using powerful examples, beautiful images, and finely wrought prose Zimmer and Emlen have produced a text that not only conveys the explanatory power of evolution, but one permeated with the joy of doing science. Their text can only be described as an exciting moment for our field: it is an important accomplishment for our students and for evolutionary biology at large. Neil Shubin, University of Chicago, author of Your Inner Fish.

A richly illustrated and very clearly written text, Evolution: Making Sense of Life brings forth the excitement, power, and importance of modern evolutionary biology in an accessible, yet sophisticated overview of the field. Sean B. Carroll, University of Wisconsin, Madison, author of Endless Forms Most Beautiful.

If there was ever a book that makes it obvious why evolution is a fascinating topicand a topic that goes to the core of understanding what biology is aboutthis is it. It truly makes you better understand and appreciate the biological world around us. Svante Paabo, Director, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Two master craftsmen in the art of scientific communication have combined to produce an excellent basic text on evolution: it informs, explains, teaches and inspires. The illustrations are outstanding. Peter R. Grant, Princeton University

Carl Zimmer and Douglas Emlen have captured in this stunning new book the excitement and richness of twenty-first century evolutionary biology. They describe clearly and elegantly not only what, but also how, we are learning about evolutionary processes and the patterns they produce. The writing is compelling, the illustrations beautiful and truly informative, and the balance between breadth and depth of discussion on each topic just right. This is a book that would make anyone think about becoming an evolutionary biologist today. John N. Thompson, University of California, Santa Cruz

Beautifully written and lavishly illustrated, heres a superb textbook that can do double duty gracing the coffee table. This book is bound to attract many more students into the field of evolutionary biology. Richard Lenski, Michigan State University

This is not your grandmothers evolution text. Breathtakingly illustrated, this book covers not only the usual topics in evolution adaptation, drift, phylogenetic analysis but also a host of new and exciting areas where groundbreaking research is occurring. Marlene Zuk, University of Minnesota

You can pre-order the book on Amazon here. And here is information at the web site at our publisher, Roberts & Company. Excitingly, they are also creating an iPad version of the book, with many interactive features. The app itself is free, and you can use it to download the first chapter (also free). The remaining chapters will be rolling out soon, with the price to be determined later. (No Android version, Im afraid!)

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Presenting “Evolution: Making Sense of Life” (and a free app!) | The Loom

Special issue of Botany showcases CANPOLIN research

A special issue of the journal Botany is set to showcase to the world the multipronged-approach that Canadian researchers are bringing to the study of pollination biology. The journal's July issue features seven articles from NSERC-CANPOLIN researchers, examining topics that range from the effect of flower structure on pollinator activity to the impacts of recent climate change on pollinator ranges. The issue also includes two review papers, one exploring pollen limitation and pollinator diversity, and the other assessing the value of network biology studies in pollinator conservation.

"Pollination biology is a somewhat unique field of study, because there are so many different ways to approach the interactions between plants and pollinators," says Jana Vamosi of the University of Calgary and guest editor of the special issue. "It can be studied at the level of a single plant or pollinator species, or at a community level, where the entire complex web of plant and pollinator interactions are considered. At the landscape level, pollination takes place against a backdrop of wide-ranging and sometimes extreme environments, which adds further to the complexity of interactions."

The special issue presents findings from studies conducted in a variety of ecosystems, including agricultural, forest and alpine. Many of these studies have revealed important information about the pollination biology and/or evolution of several Canadian plant species, while a study that took place in Quebec is one of the first to examine the impact of agricultural monocultures on pollinator nutrition and reproduction. At the macro-scale, a country-wide study of 81 butterfly species looks at how the ranges of these relatively mobile pollinators are keeping pace with latitudinal shifts in climatic gradients.

Nine CANPOLIN ecologists collaborated on a review examining pollinator biodiversity and its role in pollen limitation, a scenario in which a plant's reproduction is limited because not enough pollen is transferred. Although traditional wisdom predicts that there will be less pollen limitation when pollinator diversity is high, the group found that this link is actually somewhat weak. The authors encourage other researchers investigating the phenomenon of pollen limitation to measure pollinator diversity more explicitly, so that it is easier to identify what makes a plant-pollinator relationship stable.

A second review makes the case that pollinator network analyses are an important tool for understanding pollination systems at the community level. Rather than traditional measurements that focus simply on what species are present, pollinator networks provide information on what each flower visitor is actually doing. "Network analyses are considered by many to be the next frontier in pollinator biology" says Elizabeth Elle of Simon Fraser, senior author of the review and co-leader of CANPOLIN's Ecosystems Working Group with Vamosi. "They provide a functional understanding of pollination systems as opposed to just an inventory. As such, they are likely to become an essential part of developing conservation strategies for pollinators."

The idea for the special issue took hold during a pollination symposium at last year's Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution annual meeting in Banff, AB, an event that was co-organized by Elle and fellow CANPOLIN member Risa Sargent of University of Ottawa. The symposium brought together researchers from four different working groups in CANPOLIN (Taxonomy, Plant reproduction, Ecology and Prediction) to explore pollinator biodiversity and pollination services in Canada. "The symposium was a great success and generated quite a lot of interest. With the help of NRC Research Press, we have been able to capture many of the ideas presented and make them available to the wider research community through this special issue," says Vamosi.

More information: For a full overview of the July 2012 issue see the introductory article by Vamosi et al: "Pollination biology research in Canada: perspectives on a mutualism at different scales" (Botany, 90(7): v-vi, doi: 10.1139/b2012-051).

The full issue is now available online http://www.nrcresearchpre toc/cjb/90/7

Journal reference: Botany

Provided by Canadian Science Publishing (NRC Research Press)

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Special issue of Botany showcases CANPOLIN research

American Fisheries Society mentoring program gives students a career head start

SPANISH FORT, Alabama -- The 2012 Hutton Junior Fisheries Biology Program received 79 applications this year from high school juniors and seniors and chose only 15 participants, one of whom was Spanish Fort High School graduate Katie Dankovic.

The 18-year-old was a senior at SFHS when she was persuaded by her consumer science teacher to submit an application for the internship and scholarship opportunity sponsored by the American Fisheries Society. Dankovic was selected, received a $3,000 scholarship and spent an eight-week internship being mentored by biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Daphne location.

The Hutton program is open to all 11th- and 12th-grade high school students regardless of their race or gender; however, the programs goal is to stimulate interest in careers in fisheries science and management among groups underrepresented in the fisheries professions, so women and minorities are encouraged to apply. Each student chosen for the program receives a scholarship and is matched with a professional mentor for a summer-long hands-on experience.

Dankovics mentors, Andy Ford and Jennifer Pritchett, said they have seen Dankovic progress throughout the weeks.

Shes communicating better, her confidence is growing and shes catching on quick, said Pritchett, a fish and wildlife biologist.

As a first-time mentor, Pritchett feels as though the opportunity benefits both herself and Dankovic.

Im trying to help pay it forward. I hope I can enhance someone elses career and my leadership skills also, said Pritchett.

Ford, who has been a mentor for three years, agrees that the experience as a mentor is rewarding.

I enjoy getting out there and helping. I think weve all had someone in some point of our career that stepped up and helped, said Ford, a fishery biologist. Its enjoyable for me to see young people coming out of school and excited about the field already.

The 2012 program, which was established in 2000, includes minority students in nearly half its positions and about two-thirds are female, a spokesman said. This year, the Hutton Scholars are working with their mentors in 13 states.

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Bioengineers discover single cancer cell can produce up to five daughter cells

Conventional biology expects the process of mammalian cell division, mitosis, to occur by the equal partition of a mother cell into two daughter cells. Bioengineers at UCLA Engineering have developed a platform that mechanically confines cells, simulating the in vivo three-dimensional environments in which they divide. Upon confinement they have discovered that cancer cells can divide a large percentage of the time into three or more daughter cells instead.

It's well known in conventional biology that during the process of mammalian cell division, or mitosis, a mother cell divides equally into two daughter cells. But when it comes to cancer, say UCLA researchers, mother cells may be far more prolific.

Bioengineers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science developed a platform to mechanically confine cells, simulating the in vivo three-dimensional environments in which they divide, and found that, upon confinement, cancer cells often split into three or more daughter cells.

"We hope that this platform will allow us to better understand how the 3-D mechanical environment may play a role in the progression of a benign tumor into a malignant tumor that kills," said Dino Di Carlo, an associate professor of bioengineering at UCLA and principal investigator on the research.

The biological process of mitosis is tightly regulated by specific biochemical checkpoints to ensure that each daughter cell receives an equal set of sub-cellular materials, such as chromosomes or organelles, to create new cells properly.

However, when these checkpoints are miscued, the mistakes can have detrimental consequences. One key component is chromosomal count: When a new cell acquires extra chromosomes or loses chromosomes known as aneuploidy the regulation of important biological processes can be disrupted, a key characteristic of many invasive cancers. A cell that divides into more than two daughter cells undergoes a complex choreography of chromosomal motion that can result in aneuploidy.

By investigating the contributing factors that lead to mismanagement during the process of chromosome segregation, scientists may better understand the progression of cancer, said the researchers, whose findings were recently published online in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE.

For the study, the UCLA team created a microfluidic platform to mechanically confine cancer cells to study the effects of 3-D microenvironments on mitosis events. The platform allowed for high-resolution, single-cell microscopic observations as the cells grew and divided. This platform, the researchers said, enabled them to better mimic the in vivo conditions of a tumor's space-constrained growth in 3-D environments in contrast to traditionally used culture flasks.

Surprisingly, the team observed that such confinement resulted in the abnormal division of a single cancer cell into three or four daughter cells at a much higher rate than typical. And a few times, they observed a single cell splitting into five daughter cells during a single division event, likely leading to aneuploid daughter cells.

"Even though cancer can arise from a set of precise mutations, the majority of malignant tumors possess aneuploid cells, and the reason for this is still an open question," said Di Carlo, who is also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. "Our new microfluidic platform offers a more reliable way for researchers to study how the unique tumor environment may contribute to aneuploidy."

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Cancer Therapeutics Reveals Proof of Concept for Second Development Drug

MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cancer Therapeutics, a company focused on translating cancer biology research into novel treatments for cancer, today announced the validation and performance of a new targeted drug, CTx-294886, in combination with Avastin (bevacizumab Genentech/Roche) in a preclinical model of breast cancer. At the same time the Company announced that it has developed a new High Throughput Screening (HTS) platform for the identification of small molecule inhibitors of protein ubiquitination, a key element in the essential cellular process of protein homeostasis, which is an exciting new target pathway for cancer treatment. Both scientific developments will be presented as posters at the EACR conference in Barcelona Spain on July 7-10 2012.

The anti-tumour response to CTx-0294886, a potent small molecule inhibitor of Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 3 (VEGFR3), was compared with that of the Companys first product CTx-0294945, a potent selective FAK inhibitor. CTx-0294886 in combination with Avastin, showed additional benefits to those previously demonstrated by CTx-294945 (previously presented at the AACR conference in Chicago on the 3rd of April this year). In both cases the small molecules in combination with Avastin inhibited angiogenesis, and increased the duration of tumour response in a model of basal breast cancer. In addition CTx-294886 in combination with Avastin also provided a highly statistically significant increase in the median survival time compared to the Avastin only group.

The new Ubiquitin HTS platform closely replicates cellular ubiquitination pathways, and provides a mechanism for HTS of multiple targets. Ubiquitins are small regulatory proteins that attach to other target proteins allowing their destruction and recycling. This process requires a family of dedicated enzymes, such as ligases, for completion. E6AP, an E3 ligase, was selected to validate the platform. E6AP ubiquitinates p53 and PML in human papilloma virus (HPV) related and other cancers. Both p53 and PML are well known suppressors of tumour growth so substances that inhibit E6AP would be expected to retard tumour growth in cancers such as cervical and head and neck cancers. The platform was able to identify several small molecules that are now undergoing further investigation.

Dr Warwick Tong, CEO of Cancer Therapeutics, commented:

Having achieved preclinical validation for our first product candidate in conjunction with Avastin, we are delighted to be announcing that our second candidate is even more potent at prolonging and strengthening the effects of Avastin. We are excited to have two targeted molecules that will allow rational combinations with other therapies in the fight against cancer. We are now starting to reap the benefits of our highly collaborative approach to drug discovery, working hand in hand with some of the top research institutes in Australia and our international partner, Cancer Research Technology UK.

Dr Ian Street, Chief Scientific Officer of Cancer Therapeutics, added:

The launch of our new Ubiquitin HTS platform opens up the potential to collaborate with industry by screening chemical libraries to address multiple targets in this new and exciting area of cancer biology. We are ready to begin discussions with other companies who would like to work with us to include their targets of interest and screen their chemical libraries using this platform.

The titles of the posters being presented throughout the conference are:

Poster 846: Inhibition of Focal Adhesion Kinase in Combination With Bevacizumab Reduces the Rate of Tumour Revascularization and Increases Survival in a Pre-clinical Model of Basal Breast Cancer by I. Street et al.

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Cell biology — new insights into the life of microtubules

Public release date: 2-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Dr. Kathrin Bilgeri kathrin.bilgeri@lmu.de 49-892-180-6938 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitt Mnchen

Every second, around 25 million cell divisions take place in our bodies. This process is driven by microtubule filaments which continually grow and shrink. A new study shows how so-called motor proteins in the cytosol can control their dynamics.

The cytoskeleton plays a central role in the process of cell division. It is composed in large part of protein filaments known as microtubules, which also help determine the size, shape and mobility of a cell. In a new study, LMU biophysicist Erwin Frey and his colleagues Anna Melbinger and Louis Reese have used a theoretical model to show how cells control the construction and breakdown of microtubules. The dy-namics of this process affect how cells divide, and how they maintain the cytoskeleton. In particular, it is responsible for regulating the size and shape of the mitotic spindle.

Easy come, easy go

Theoretical modeling has now revealed that the regulation of microtubule length relies on the length of the filament itself: The longer the filament the more motor proteins can attach to it. These all move towards the 'plus end' of the microtubule and tend to pile up as they do so. Upon arrival at the plus-end they shorten the filament. In parallel, new microtubule building blocks bind to precisely the same 'plus end' through spontaneous polymerization from the surrounding cytosol, and the filament grows.

It has now been demonstrated that such interplay between growth and length-dependent shrinkage indeed results in the maintenance of a precisely regulated microtubule length. This kind of length regulation might be essential for many intracellular tasks which depend on microtubules of a certain length. (Physical Review Letters, 22. June 2012)

###

This work was supported by the Cluster of Excellence "Nanosystems Initiative Munich" (NIM) and SFB 863 (Forces in Biomolecular Systems)

Publication: Microtubule Length Regulation by Molecular Motors Anna Melbinger, Louis Reese, and Erwin Frey Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 258104 (2012). Published online June 22, 2012

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3-V Biosciences Appoints Douglas I. Buckley, PhD, as Vice President of Biology

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --3-V Biosciences, Inc., announced today the appointment of Douglas Buckley, PhD, as Vice President of Biology. Dr. Buckley brings more than 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, and his discoveries and research leadership have resulted in several marketed products and many more in clinical development.

"With our lead antiviral program entering the clinic in the next year, we are committed to building a strong pipeline. Doug's extensive experience in target identification and prosecution and his track record of successful early-stage drug development will be instrumental to our continued growth," said George Kemble, PhD, 3-V's Chief Scientific Officer.

"I look forward to building upon the early successes of 3-V and developing the next generation of antiviral compounds with this team," said Dr. Buckley. "3-V has taken a novel approach to antiviral therapies that are less likely to allow viral resistance to develop. In addition, this approach opens up the possibility of developing high-value therapeutics in other therapeutic areas, making 3-V a compelling story."

Dr. Buckley joins 3-V from Exelixis, Inc., where he served most recently as Vice President of Biochemistry. In that role, he led research and discovery teams responsible for delivering over thirty IND-ready compounds to Exelixis' internal pipeline and to external partnerships. Also during his tenure at Exelixis, Dr. Buckley contributed to the New Drug Application filing for cabozantinib (XL 184). Prior to Exelixis, Dr. Buckley was the Department Head of Protein Chemistry and Process Development at Scios, Inc., where he was responsible for process and assay development for two marketed biotherapeutic products (Fiblast (trafermin) and NATRECOR (nesiritide)). Doug received his AB in Chemistry and Economics from Bowdoin College, his PhD in Endocrinology from the Hormone Research Laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco, and his post-doctoral training in the Molecular Biology Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. Doug serves on the Astia Life Sciences Board as an advisor to women entrepreneurs starting life sciences companies and as a scientific advisor to Woodside Capital Partners.

About 3-V Biosciences

3-V Biosciences, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops antiviral therapeutics designed to have broad-spectrum activity, a high barrier to resistance and efficacy against emergent viral strains. The 3-V team applies an integrated approach with internal expertise in virology, biology, drug discovery and development to drive programs forward. The company is located in Menlo Park, California.

For additional information on 3-V Biosciences, please visit http://www.3vbio.com.

Contact information

Stephen R. Brady Chief Business Officer 650-561-8600

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3-V Biosciences Appoints Douglas I. Buckley, PhD, as Vice President of Biology

Research and Markets: Muscle. Fundamental Biology and Mechanisms of Disease

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/68w4bw/muscle_fundamenta) has announced the addition of Elsevier Science and Technology's new report "Muscle. Fundamental Biology and Mechanisms of Disease" to their offering.

Muscle: Fundamental Biology and Mechanisms of Disease will be the first reference covering cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle in fundamental, basic science, translational biology, disease mechanism, and therapeutics. Currently there are no publications covering the science behind the medicine, as the majority of books are 90% clinical and 10% science. Muscle: Fundamental Biology and Mechanisms of Disease will discuss myocyte biology, also known as muscle cell biology, providing information about the science behind clinical work and therapeutics with a 90% science and 10% clinical focus. A needed resource for researchers, clinical professionals, postdocs, and graduate students, this publication will further discuss basic biology development and physiology, how processes go awry in disease states, and how the defective pathways are targeted for therapy.

As stated by a reviewer of the proposal, "An integration of topics ranging from basic physiology to newly discovered molecular mechanisms of muscle diseases is highly desirable. I am not aware of a comprehensive book that covers and integrates these topics."- Maik Huttemann, Wayne State University, MI.

Per the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease, an institute at the National Institutes of Health, "clinical investigators are sorely needed to translate an ever increasing number of basic research findings into medical applications". This book will assist both the new and experienced clinician's and researcher's need for science translation of background research into clinical applications, bridging the gap between research and clinical knowledge.

Key Topics Covered:

Opening: . including information regarding atherosclerosis/angiogenesis/hypertension as important topics, but not covered in this resource with suggested references for study

Foreword

1. Introduction

2. Cardiac Muscle

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Research and Markets: Muscle. Fundamental Biology and Mechanisms of Disease

Biology's Master Programmers

Photographs by Mark Ostow

George Church is an imposing figureover six feet tall, with a large, rectangular face bordered by a brown and silver nest of beard and topped by a thick mop of hair. Since the mid-1980s Church has played a pioneering role in the development of DNA sequencing, helpingamong his other achievementsto organize the Human Genome Project. To reach his office at Harvard Medical School, one enters a laboratory humming with many of the more than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows over whom Church rules as director of the school's Center for Computational Genetics. Passing through an anteroom of assistants, I find Church at his desk, his back to me, hunched over a notebook computer that makes him look even larger than he is.

Church looms especially large these days because of his role as one of the most influential figures in synthetic biology, an ambitious and radical approach to genetic engineering that attempts to create novel biological entitieseverything from enzymes to cells and microbesby combining the expertise of biology and engineering. He and his lab are credited with many of the advances in harnessing and synthesizing DNA that now help other researchers modify microrganisms to create new fuels and medical treatments. When I ask Church to describe what tangible impact synthetic biology will have on everyday life, he leans back in his chair, clasps his hands behind his head, and says, "It will change everything. People are going to live healthier a lot longer because of synthetic biology. You can count on it."

Such grandiosity is not uncommon among the practitioners of synthetic biology. Ever since Church and a few other researchers began to combine biology and engineering a dozen years ago, they have promised it would "change everything." And no wonder. The very idea of synthetic biology is to purposefully engineer the DNA of living things so that they can accomplish tasks they don't carry out in nature. Although genetic engineering has been going on since the 1970s, a rapid drop in the cost of decoding and synthesizing DNA, combined with a vast increase in computer power and an influx into biology labs of engineers and computer scientists, has led to a fundamental change in how thoroughly and swiftly an organism's genetics can be modified. Church says the technology will eventually lead to all manner of breakthroughs: we will be able to replace diseased tissues and organs by reprogramming cells to make new ones, create novel microbes that efficiently secrete fuels and other chemicals, and fashion DNA switches that turn on the right genes inside a patient's cells to prevent arteries from getting clogged.

Even though some of these applications are years from reality, Church has a way of tossing off such predictions matter-of-factly. And it's easy to see why he's optimistic. The cost of both decoding DNA and synthesizing new DNA strands, he has calculated, is falling about five times as fast as computing power is increasing under Moore's Law, which has accurately predicted that chip performance will double roughly every two years. Those involved in synthetic biology, who often favor computer analogies, might say it's becoming exponentially easier to read from, and write into, the source code of life. These underlying technology trends, says Church, are leading to an explosion in experimentation of a sort that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago.

Up to now, it's proved stubbornly difficult to turn synthetic biology into a practical technology that can create products like cheap biofuels. Scientists have found that the "code of life" is far more complex and difficult to crack than anyone might have imagined a decade ago. What's more, while rewriting the code is easier than ever, getting it right isn't. Researchers and entrepreneurs have found ways to coax bacteria or yeast to make many useful compounds, but it has been difficult to optimize such processes so that the microbes produce significant quantities efficiently enough to compete with existing commercial products.

Church is characteristically undeterred. At 57, he has survived cancer and a heart attack, and he suffers from both dyslexia and narcolepsy; before I visited him, one of his colleagues warned that I shouldn't be surprised if he fell asleep on me. But he has founded or taken an advisory role in more than 50 startup companiesand he stayed awake throughout our time together, apparently excited to describe how his lab has found ways to take advantage of ultrafast sequencing and other tools to greatly speed up synthetic biology. Among its many projects, Church's lab has invented a technique for rapidly synthesizing multiple novel strings of DNA and introducing them simultaneously into a bacterial genome. In one experiment, researchers created four billion variants of E. coli in a single day. After three days, they found variants of the bacteria in which production of a desired chemical was increased fivefold.

The idea, Church explains, is to sort through the variations to find "an occasional hopeful monster, just as evolution has done for millions of years." By mimicking in lab experiments what takes eons in nature, he says, he is radically improving the odds of finding ways to make microbes not just do new things but do them efficiently.

A DNA Turn-On

In some ways, the difficulties researchers have faced making new, more useful life forms shouldn't come as a surprise. Indeed, a lesson of genome research over the last few decades is that no matter how elegantly compact the DNA code is, the biology it gives rise to is consistently more complex than anyone anticipated. When I began reporting the early days of gene discovery 30 years ago, biologists, as they often do, thought reductively. When they found a gene involved in disease, the discovery made headlines. Scientists said they believed that potent new medicines could soon deactivate malfunctioning versions of genes, or that gene therapy could be used to replace them with healthy versions in the body.

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Biology's Master Programmers

MIT names Kaiser as new provost

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Prof. Chris A. Kaiser, who headed the universitys biology department for eight years, has been selected as its new provost, according to president-elect L. Rafael Reif.

Kaiser succeeds Reif, who has served as MITs provost since 2005. Both will assume their new positions on July 2. Reif takes over the campus presidency from Susan Hockfield who announced earlier this year she was stepping down from the position.

Kaiser, 55, a cell biologist and biology professor, has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1991. He chaired the Department of Biology from 2004 until earlier this year.

A distinguished scholar and a master teacher in his field, he has also played a key role on a number of Institute-wide committees, advancing the broader mission of MIT with curiosity, creativity, empathy and a marvelous sense of humor, Reif said. I have no doubt that he will thrive as provost.

The provost is MITs senior academic and budget officer, responsible for the Institutes educational programs, and the recruitment, promotion and tenuring of faculty.

The campus said Kaiser managed the appointment of 14 new junior faculty in the biology department and in affiliated research institutions, including the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research, and the Broad Institute, while as biology department head.

Kaiser earned a bachelors degree in biochemistry from Harvard University in 1980, and a PhD in biology from MIT in 1987. He did postdoctoral research as a Helen Hay Whitney Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley before joining MIT as an assistant professor of biology in 1991.

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MIT names Kaiser as new provost

MIT names head of biology dept. as new provost

MIT has named a new provost. The former head of MITs Dept. of Biology, professor Chris Kaiser, will take on the role as provost, replacing MITs President-elect Rafael Reif, the institute announced today.

Kaiser, who has been a cell biologist and professor of biology, has been at MIT since 1991. The professor, 55, chaired the Dept. of Biology from 2004 until earlier this year.

As someone who grew up at MIT first as a graduate student and then as a member of the biology faculty I am extremely grateful to President-elect Reif for giving me the opportunity to serve the Institute in this capacity, Kaiser said in a statement. At MIT, innovation is the norm, and as provost I plan not only to build upon our already-strong programs, but also to continue to foster inventive new directions in education and research.

Kaiser was selected by Reif, the outgoing provost, who will take on his role as president on July 2. Reif selected Kaiser after consulting faculty members and students, according to MIT. The selection was then was confirmed by a vote of the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation.

In his new role as provost, Kaiser will be responsible for the Institutes educational programs, as well as for the recruitment, promotion and tenuring of faculty. Kaiser will also work with the deans of MITs five schools to establish priorities and will work with the vice president for research and associate provost regarding research priorities.

As the head of the Dept. of Biology, Kaiser managed 14 new junior faculty in the department and in affiliated research institutions including the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, the Koch Institute for Integrated Cancer Research, and the Broad Institute.

His efforts in genetic, biochemical and structural biology research methods have led to the identification of numerous genes and mutations involved in these processes.

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MIT names head of biology dept. as new provost

Oligonucleotide Delivery: Biology, Engineering and Development Conference

Public release date: 27-Jun-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Kevin Korpics kevin@engconfintl.org Engineering Conferences International

Oligonucleotide technologies, such as siRNA, tap into endogenous, highly conserved and specific catalytic mechanisms to efficiently regulate gene expression. As such, they have the potential to enable the development of novel therapeutic options for disease targets previously considered un-druggable by conventional small molecule and biologics means. However, despite the promise, clinical development has been hindered by the challenges encountered by identifying and developing safe and efficacious delivery formulations.

Since its discovery in 1998, RNA silencing has attracted much attention, with over 50,000 peer-reviewed publications, multiple national and international conferences, and significant investment in the biotech and large pharma with the goal of developing new siRNA-based therapies. Despite the interest and investment this has proven to be more difficult that first envisioned. It is widely recognized that there are gaps in our basic understanding on how to best harness this technology for therapeutic use.

The major topics to be discussed are:

Liposomes, nanosomes, polymeric and nano-particulate delivery vehicles RNA chemical modifications and conjugates to enable delivery Protein transduction domain as delivery platforms Mechanisms of cellular uptake and endosomal escape Biophysical characterization methods siRNA delivery vehicle toxicology Local and systemic siRNA delivery case studies

Confirmed Speakers Achim Aigner, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany Saghir Akhtar, Kuwait University, Kuwait Eben Alsberg, Case Western Reserve University, USA Dan Anderson, MIT, USA Tomohiro Asai, University of Shizuoka, Japan Himanshu Brahmbhatt, EnGeneIC Ltd, Australia Bob Brown, Dicerna, USA Kenneth Clark, GlaxoSmithKline, UK Pieter Cullis, University of British Columbia, Canada Mark E. Davis, California Institute of Technology, USA Derek M. Dykxhoorm, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, USA Xavier de Mollerat Du Jeu, Life Technologies, USA Omid Farokhzad, Harvard Medical School, USA Elena Feinstein, Quark Pharma, Israel / USA Mauro Ferrari, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, USA Mercedes Gonzlez-Juarrero, Colorado State University, USA Tatsuhiro Ishida, The University of Tokushima, Japan Rudy Juliano, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA Jan Kamps, University of Groningen, The Netherlands Kazunori Kataoka, University of Tokyo, Japan Jrgen Kjems, rhus University, Denmark Troels Koch, Santaris Pharma A/S, Denmark / USA lo Langel, Stockholm University, Sweden Gabriel Lpez-Berestein, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA Zheng-Rong Lu, Case Western Reserve University, USA Jennifer MacDiarmid, EnGeneIC Ltd, Australia Ram I. Mahato, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, USA Muthiah Manoharan, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, USA Nigel A.J. McMillan, Diamantina Institute, University of Queensland, Australia X in Ming, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA Tamara Minko, Rutgers University, USA Andrs Montefeltro, nLife Therapeutics, Spain Sterghios Moschos, University of Westminster, UK Deborah Palliser, Albert Einstein School of Medicine, USA Dan Peer, Tel Aviv University, Israel Jean Phillipe Pellois, Texas A&M University, USA Blake Peterson, The University of Kansas, USA Tariq M. Rana, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, USA Steven L. Regen, Lehigh University, USA John Rossi, City of Hope, Duarte, USA Dmitry Samarsky, RiboBio, China Ansgar Santel, Silence Therapeutics AG, Germany Alan D. Schreiber, ZaBeCor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., USA Sabine Schreidler, Sanofi-Aventis, Germany Georg Sczakiel, University of Lbeck, Germany Peter H. Seeberger, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Berlin, Germany Rita Serda, Methodist Hospital Research Institute, USA Mouldy Sioud, Norwegian Radium Hospital, Norway Anil Sood, MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA Janos Szebeni, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary C. Shad Thaxton, Northwestern University, USA Ernst Wagner, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munchen, Germany Roberto Weinmann, Sylentis, Spain Johannes Winkler, University of Vienna, Austria You-Yeon Won, Purdue University, USA Matthew Wood, Oxford University, UK Miqin Zhang, University of Washington, USA

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Oligonucleotide Delivery: Biology, Engineering and Development Conference

MIT taps Chris Kaiser, former head of biology department, as new provost

By Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondent

Chris A. Kaiser, professor and former chairman of the Department of Biology at MIT, has been named the colleges new provost.

Kaiser succeeds L. Rafael Reif, who recently was appointed MITs president. Reif and Kaiser will assume the positions of president and provost, respectively, on July 2.

Kaiser, 55, of Concord, has been a member of faculty since 1991. He served as the biology department chairman from 2004 until earlier this year.

A distinguished scholar and a master teacher in his field, he has also played a key role on a number of Institute-wide committees, advancing the broader mission of MIT with curiosity, creativity, empathy and a marvelous sense of humor, Reif said of Kaiser in a statement. I have no doubt that he will thrive as provost.

The provost is MITs senior academic and budget officer who also oversees the recruitment and promotion of faculty with overall responsibility for the schools educational programs.

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MIT taps Chris Kaiser, former head of biology department, as new provost

Research and Markets: Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, 2nd Edition

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/76ggj5/dictionary_of_deve) has announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd's new book "Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, 2nd Edition" to their offering.

A newly-revised edition of the standard reference for the field today updated with new terms, major discoveries, significant scientists, and illustrations

Developmental biology is the study of the mechanisms of development, differentiation, and growth in animals and plants at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels. The discipline has gained prominence in part due to new interdisciplinary approaches and advances in technology, which have led to the rapid emergence of new concepts and words. The Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, Second Edition is the first comprehensive reference focused on the field's terms, research, history, and people.

This authoritative A-to-Z resource covers classical morphological and cytological terms along with those from modern genetics and molecular biology. Extensively cross-referenced, the Dictionary includes definitions of terms, explanations of concepts, and biographies of historical figures. Comparative aspects are described in order to provide a sense of the evolution of structures, and topics range from fundamental terminology, germ layers, and induction to RNAi, evo-devo, stem cell differentiation, and more. Readers will find such features of embryology and developmental biology as:

- Vertebrates

- Invertebrates

- Plants

- Developmental genetics

- Evolutionary developmental biology

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Research and Markets: Dictionary of Developmental Biology and Embryology, 2nd Edition

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research Chemical Systems Biology …

Two Abstracts Selected for Oral Presentation

Three Posters to be Presented, Each on Different Examples of Applying the Network Biology Approach to Therapeutic Development

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (MACK), a biopharmaceutical company with a pipeline of eight oncology therapeutics and multiple diagnostics, announced today that two oral presentations and three posters on its Network Biology approach to therapeutic development will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Special Conference "Chemical Systems Biology: Assembling and Interrogating Computational Models of the Cancer Cell by Chemical Perturbations" being held June 27 -- 30, 2012, at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston, Mass.

About Merrimack

Merrimack is a biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and preparing to commercialize innovative medicines paired with companion diagnostics for the treatment of serious diseases, with an initial focus on cancer. Merrimack applies Network Biology, its proprietary systems biology-based approach to biomedical research, throughout the research and development process. Merrimack currently has five targeted therapeutic oncology candidates in clinical development.

Forward-looking statements

Any statements in this press release about Merrimack's future expectations, plans and prospects constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. Merrimack anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause its views to change. However, while Merrimack may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Merrimack specifically disclaims any obligation to do so.

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Merrimack Pharmaceuticals to Present at the 2012 American Association for Cancer Research Chemical Systems Biology ...

Loch Ness Monster real in biology textbook

An undated photo of a shadowy shape that some people say is the Loch Ness monster. (AP)

This would be funny if it werent so, well, not funny.

A biology textbook used by a Christian school in Louisiana that will be accepting students with publicly funded vouchers in the fall says that the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland is real. And it isnt just any monster but a dinosaur an effort to debunk evolution and bolster creationist theory.

The story, reported in the Scotsman newspaper in Scotland, says that Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake is one of the many Christian schools in the United States that uses these books published by Accelerated Christian Education.

The Biology 1099 edition includes a passage about the Loch Ness Monster that says, in part, according to the newspaper:

Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland? Nessie for short has been recorded on sonar from a small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie appears to be a plesiosaur.

Marie Carrier, principal of Eternity Christian Academy, was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying that she would like to accept 135 voucher students for next year to join the 38 children already attending the school in grades 1 through 8.

The reason all of this matters now to the public is that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal recently signed a law that sets up the largest voucher program of any state in the country. Some 125 private and religious schools from across the state are qualified to participate in the Louisiana Believes program, which gives families public money to pay school tuition for their children.

It is interesting to note that one of the schools originally on the list, the Islamic School of Greater New Orleans, withdrew its application for voucher students after an outcry about its participation by some lawmakers.

It seems that fundamentalist Christian schools are acceptable to receive public money, but Islamic schools are not. Republican state Rep. Kenneth Harvard was quoted by the Associated Press that he would not support public funding for Islamic teaching.

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Loch Ness Monster real in biology textbook

LISD releases STAAR results

Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 4:00 am | Updated: 7:20 am, Tue Jun 26, 2012.

The Longview Independent School District students fared better than students across the state in English, reading and writing and matched their peers on biology during their first venture with the newly-implemented State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness test.

Monday, the district released results from the test.

While district eighth and ninth grade students did comparatively well in English and biology, LISD students lagged behind statewide passing rates for Algebra I and world geography.

All high school freshmen took the tests, as did eighth grade students who are taking ninth-grade level classes.

Rebecca Cooper, director of resources, planning and accountability for the district, said that the STAAR tests focus on fewer skills than the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills but expects students to have a more in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.

Texas is phasing out the TAKS and implementing STAAR.

The focus areas are clearer, fewer and deeper, Cooper said. These tests are more linked to college readiness than TAKS tests are.

For the five STAAR tests linked to typical freshman year classes, the overall passing percentages for Longview ISD were: English I reading, 72 percent; English I writing, 58 percent; Algebra I, 80 percent; biology, 87 percent; and world geography, 75 percent.

Statewide results showed ninth-grade passing rates ranged from 87 percent on the biology test to 55 percent on the English I writing test.

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LISD releases STAAR results

Too Much Math Turns Biologists Off, Study Finds

Don't be fooled by their PhDs -- biologists struggle with math too.

But University of Bristol researchers were surprised to find just how strong that aversion to equations is. In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they found that lots of math expressions in the main body of a research paper meant it was cited less by other scientists.

In fact, for each additional equation in a given paper, the number of times it was cited in other papers went down by 28 percent.

"The biologists I know don't like maths, but I only expected an effect of maybe five percent," co-author Andrew Higginson said in a telephone interview.

To gauge the dampening effect of math on biology papers, Higginson and his colleague Tim Fawcett measured equation density by counting the number of mathematical expressions in a research paper and dividing by the number of pages. They then looked at the number of times the paper was cited.

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Higginson says that in the U.K., the required math for undergraduate biology students will generally focus on statistics.

But "theoretical models aren't statistical, they're like calculus. And it's possible to to get a PhD without doing calculus," Higginson says.

While most biology research is empirical - relying on observation and experimentation - theoretical models, such as an equation modeling population changes in foxes and rabbits as the former preys on the latter, allow researchers to better interpret their observations and to test predictions.

To bridge the divide, Higginson and Fawcett think it's primarily important for biologists doing theoretical work to explain their models in a way that's easily understood by a wider audience.

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Too Much Math Turns Biologists Off, Study Finds